Boiler-supply system



Jan. 5 192s. R. L. DESPUJOLS BOILER SUPPLY sYsTE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 4, 1923 Jan. 5 1926.

R. L. D'ESPUJOLS BOILER SUPPLY SYSTEM 2`Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed- April 4.192:5

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Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES ROBERT LUCIEN nEsrUJoLs, or LA VARENNE, sT.-H`ILA1RE,FRANCE.

BOILERSUPPLY SYSTEM.

Application ined Aprn 4, 1923. serial No. 629345.

To aZZ 1 0/0m t ma concern.:

kBe it known t at I,- ROBERT LUCIEN DEsrUJoLs, citizen of France,residing at SPromenade des Anglais, La Varenne, St.-

Hilaire, Seine, France, have invented certain new and usefulI,mproven'ients in Boiler- Supply iystemsof which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to systems for controlling the supply of liquidtoa boiler and is characterized by Vthe arrangement and employment ofdevices so disposed and connected ,that they permit automatic feeding ofthe boiler withoutrequiring supervision,

i the working being such that the liquid supplied to vthe boiler in agiven unit of time always corresponds to the amount of liquid vaporized.

A feature of the invention consists inthe fact that the fluid whichoperates the prime mover of the boiler feed pump is auto-v maticallycontrolled by a device comprising an expansible container so placed inlcommunication with the boiler as to take up alternately orsimultaneouslytm vapour or the liquid in accordance with the liquidlevel in the boiler. This container conveniently consists of a pipehorizotally disposedy in the plane ofthe desired liquid level. This pipeorcontainer by its expansion or contraction actuates an element tooperate a valve which admits or cuts off the motive fluid of theprimemover of thefeed pump.

If desired an adjusting device compris ing a chamber with expansiblewalls in permanent communication with the boiler may be employed for thepurpose of compensating for' the varying expansion of the erpansiblecontainer due to variations in boiler pressure.

A furtherfeature of the invention consists in employing `a reciprocatingfeed pump prime mover having a distributing valve and in controllingthis vvalve by -devices operated by fluid pressure. vFor this purposevapou'runderl pressure from the boiler may be employed.

The ac coml'aanyingl drawings show diagrainmatically `by way of examplea mode of execution of the invention.

Figure lis a diagrammatic View of the system of the invent-ion appliedto a boiler of yany construction.

Figure aview of the whole feeding or supply system.

Figure 3 shows avertical section on a larger scale of the details of thefeeding apparatus.

Figure 4 is a detail plan view of the arrangement for shutting olf theadmission valve to the feed pump prime mover.

Figure 5 is a side view partly in section on a still larger scale thanin Fig. V8, of the preferred detail construction of a removableadjusting or compensating device.

In Fig. 1, the line z-b indicates the normal Water level in the boilerA. The abovementioned expansible container which with its mounting isindicated by B in the diagram ofFig. 1 must be arranged in thehorizontal plane passing through said linek a-Z).

This eXpansible container and its mounting (F ig. 3) consist of aneXpansible pipe 1 which is arranged in a fixed pipe 2 and is secured insaid pipe at one end by means of a nipple 3 and a nut 4. The other end 5of the pipe 1 slides freely in the fixed pipe 2. The whole arrangementis rigidly associated with the head ofthe cylinder 19 of the feed pumpprime mover.

The expansible pipe 1 is connected with the boiler in the followingmanner: First of all it is connected withthe steam chamber through apipe 6 which is lioined at the nipple?. In the second place it isconnected through the `nipple 3 by means of a pipe 8 and by means ofanintroduced cooling worm 9 which is intended to take part of the latentheat, to Vthe lower part of the water chamber.

The free end 5 of the expansible pipe acts uponv an element such as afalling lever 1'() whichswings between two trunnions 11 which aresecured to the support 12 of the pipes 1 andQ.` vThe free end` of thefalling lever 10 (which is provided with an adjusting device 13 to behereinafterdescribed in detail) actuates an equilibrium valve 14 whichregulates the admission of the driving fluid (steam or compressed air)to the slide valve of the driving cylinder. The valverod 15 carries amember 16 to which two return springs 17 are attached, the other ends ofwhich are suspended on the projections lS. This device ensures thereturn of the valve to its seat, as soon as it has been released by thefalling lever.

Underneath the valve 14, is arranged the working cylinder 19, the,controlling slide valve of which is indicated at 20. The piston E21moves in the cylinder 19 and the other 'ber E23 end of the piston rod 22carries the piston of the feed pump (P, Fig. A).

A part Q3 is secured to the piston rod 22, which part moves with the rodbetween the two valve boxes which are iiXed to the frame of the pump andmay communicate with the boiler through the pipe 24 which conducts thesteam to the chamber :it the end of each stroke of the piston Q1, one ofthe valves 26 is removed from its seat by the part 23. The valves arebrought back to their seats by the springs 27 as soon as their actuationby the part 23 ceases. lt' one of the valves 25 is removed from its seatfree passage is given to the steam, which enters the approjn'iatechamber Q8 and passes therefrom through the pipes Z9 to one sido or theother of the piston 8l movable in the cylinder -lr. 'The rod of thepiston 30 is connected with the slide valve 2() through the xtensihlecoupling The cylinder 31 is provided with two bores or parts 33 whichcommunicate with a casing 3st. lVhen the piston 31 is at either end ofits stroke one of the bores 33 is uncovered. The steam which one of thevalves 26 allowed to enter the cylinder 31 then passes into the chamber34 and escapes freely therefrom through the pipe The manner' in whichthe device operates is as follows: Assuming the boiler to be underpressure and the water level to have fallen dov-:n to line c--zl(Fig. 1) then the boiler steam passes through the pipe 6 into theexransible pipe l and causes the extension of the same. The head of saidpipe engages the falling lever and the latter in its turn removes thevalve la from its seat which then allows the passage of the steam (orany other driving fluid such as compressed air) conducted to the channel86 Q andA 3). The piston 21 at once is set in motion and consequentlyworks the feed pump. However, the rod 9.2 of the piston 21 upon beingdisplaced, carries with it the part 123 which raises the valve 2&3 atthe opposite end of the stroke of the piston 21. Hence the steam passesfrom the cham into the. chamber Q8 and is conveyed from there throughthe pipe 29 to the corresponding side of the piston 30. The latter ismoved to the opposite end of its stroke,l when it inverts the positionof the slide valve 2l). The direction of motion of the piston 21 is theninstantly reversed. lu this manner the automatic working of ed pump isobtained and the feeding i to the moment when the water levelcmfresponding to line Q is again restored in the boiler. At that momentthe steam contained in the expansion pipe 1 is replaced by water and thepipe shrinks and more. onsequently the falling lever vea to actuate therod of the valve incre l-it and the latter is brought back to its seatby the springs 17, when the pipe 1 has resumed its minimum length.During the contraction of the pipe l, the pump works with decreasingspeed and finally comes to a standstill. So soon as the water level inthe boiler sinks again, steam again enters the expansion pipe in placeof the water' and the above described cycle of operations is repeated.

It should be observed that the device, as above described, (whichrepresents to a certain extent the theoretical working) only -operatedthe pump during the first run. ln

practice the expansion pipe 1, when the water level approaches thenormal level L-Z), takes up bot-h water and steam and it followstherefrom that it retains a mean equilibrated position betiveen itsterminal positions corresponding to its maximum expansion andcontraction. Said mean equilibrated position determines the throttlingof the working fiuid introduced through Ithe valve 14. Consequently thepump operates continuously, but its supplying capacity'corresponds tothe amount of vaporization in the boiler.

According to whether the boiler gives oit' larger or smaller quantitiesof steam, the running of the pump is either accelerated or retarded.When the boiler no longer gives orf any steam, the pump stands still; itbegins to run again, however as soon as the boiler gives off steam andthe water level sinks. By means of this invention, a. perfectlyautomatic and particularly safe feeding is obtained. The above describedcontrivance is completed by an adjusting device 13 (Figs. 3 and 5) whichis arranged on the falling lever and the utility of which is apparentfrom the following observations: The value of the expansion coetlicientof the pipe 1 is not constant. It depends upon the boiler pressure,since as the steam temperature is higher and the latent heat naturallygreater, the higher the pressure in the boiler itself. Consequently thevalue of the differences between the temperature of the water and thetemperature of the steam varies with the pressure. It follows therefromthat the extensions or contractions of the pipe do not always take placeunder the same conditions, so that there is no fixed regulationstandard.

The adjusting device provided on the falling lever 10, of which adetailed illustration is given in Fig. 5, makes it possible to removethe disadvantage of the aforesaid variations. As shown by Fig. 5 thedevice is arranged in a chamber 37 which is located in the lower part ofthe falling lever or attached thereto. Said chamber is closed by a plug`screw 38 which carries the casing 39 of the adjusting device 13 itself.An adjusting locking nut 40 makes it possible to adjust the casing 3S)in the desired position. At the back of the chamber 37 placed oppositethe adjusting device a hollow men1- brane 41 is provided, one surface ofwhich is` undulated and flexible. The inner space 42 of the membranecasing is connected with the coupling nipple 43 which is permanentlyconnected to the boiler by a liexible tube.

Against the undulated surface of the membrane 41, there is pressed by acounter spring 44, a disc 45 which is connected with a rod projectingfrom the casing 37 which rod forms the member 4G by which the deviceactuates the valve 14. In the hollows ol the undulations of the membraneare rings 47 and the disc 45 presses on the same.

The manner in which the adjusting dcvice operates is as follows:

If the spring 44 is adjusted at a certain tension (normal condition),the disc 45` remains in its supported position on its when it remains incontact with the membrane 41 through the intermission of the rings 47.The length e at which the rod 4G projects from the casing 37 has thevalue corresponding to the initial theoretically constant regulationpressure. In reality, however, as the inner space 42 of the membrane isin constant connection with the boiler, the membrane, under the abnormalincrease in the boiler pressure, is expanded and compresses the springthrough the disc 45. Consequently the length e diminishes and the travelof the valve 14 (Fig. 3) diminishes in proportion. The result is aretardation of the action of the pump, the behaviour of which is thusautomatically altered in order to correctly adjust the normalalteration, of the regulating device brought about by the excess ofpressure, that is to say, the new rise in temperature arising therefrom.

The adjusting device may also be arranged either at end 5 of theexpansion pipe 1 itself or at the end of the rod 15 of the valve 1.4,instead of at the falling lever 10, as described.

That I claim is:

1,. In a system for controlling the supplj7V of liquid to a boiler feedpump a fluid operated prime mover therefor and a. device :torautomatically controlling` said liuid comprising an expansible containerand a conduit connecting said container with the boiler above the normalliquid level therein and a second conduit comprising a heatradiatingportion connecting said container with the boiler below t-he normalliquid level therein,

2. A system for controlling the supply of liquid to a boiler comprisinga reciprocating feed lpump prime mover distributing valve for said primemover and fluid pressure operated devices for controlling said valve.

A system for controlling' the supply off liquid to a boiler comprising areciprocating feed pump prime mover distributing` valve for said primemover and Huid pressure operated devices for controlling said valve saiddistributing valve being a slide valve and said fluid pressure beingderived from the boiler.

4. In a system for controlling the supply of liquid to a boiler a boilerfeed pump and a. fluid operated prime mover therefor and means forautomatically controlling said liuid comprising an expansible containerconnected with said boiler by upper and lower conduits, a cooling wormincluded in said lower conduit, said container comprising a tube rigidlymounted at one end and guided for reciprocating movement at the otherend a projecting device connected with the movable end of the tube apivoted lever engaging said device and an equilibrium valve controlledby expansion or cent-raction of said tube throughthe intervention of theprojecting device and pivot-ed lever.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication.

ROBERT LUCIEN DESPJOLS.

